Wow Dick Gordon

SHOPPING
malls may become the polling precinct of the future and voters can cast
their vote as easily as withdrawing cash from an automated teller
machine.

Senator Richard Gordon said putting up satellite voting
centers was plausible in the wake of the success of the automated
elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Gordon,
who was guest in a recent forum in Quezon City, said voters will no
longer have to troop to the provinces in order to vote.

“In the
future, one only has to go to the mall, find an automated polling
machine and cast his or her vote. The idea is they can vote only once.
If they do that in other machines, they will immediately be barred to
vote again,” said Gordon, touted as the father of automated elections.

Gordon
said he was confident the automated elections can be done in the next
elections, noting its success despite the unstable security situation,
inadequate communications and transportation infrastructure.

Gordon
further noted that despite the lack of time for a massive voter
education campaign on the new automated system, voters in Maguindanao
generally described their voting experience as “easy and amazing.”

Vince
Dizon, spokesman for Smartmatic-Sahi, the technology provider for the
automated polls, said the success proved that the country is ready for
full automation in 2010.

“It was Senator Gordon’s efforts in the
Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on election automation that
pushed the Comelec to ensure automation of the ARMM elections. We owe
it to him that we were able to successfully pilot-test the technologies
in preparation for the 2010 national elections,” Dizon said.

“We
will make sure that the Commission on Elections will give ample time
for the training of voters in next elections,” Gordon said.

“If given a longer period of time training, definitely the voters will be more confident in using the machines,” Dizon said.

“With
DRE machines, counting is done automatically and transmission can be
done in minutes directly from the precincts. This is the wave of the
future and the voters of Maguindanao have proven that we are ready for
fast, clean and credible elections,” he added.

Shopping malls as voting centers
Joel M. Sy Egco
Manila Standard Today
Saturday - 23 August 2008
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics2_aug23_2008

MANILA, Philippines — Volunteers and officers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRCC) and the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) are evacuating some 700 civilians caught in the crossfire of the escalating violence in Mindanao, Senator Richard Gordon said Friday.

In a phone interview, Gordon, who also chairs the PNRC, said the civilians are from the villages of Muntay, Balong, and Ambadan in Datu Piang town, Maguindanao province.

"We might bring them to a tent city we might set up in Cotabato…We are simply getting them out of harm’s way," he said.

The senator said the PNRC is also responding to the needs of the people in Oroquieta, Ozamiz, and South Cotabato, the last of which saw a cholera outbreak among evacuees.

"We are also helping in the dengue outbreak in Calasiao, Pangasinan…We’re still verifying the reported [dengue] outbreak in Baguio…Our people and our resources are really stretched," he said.

Gordon appealed to the public for donations to the PNRC. He said cash and checks will go a long way towards purchasing food and other needs in the areas of concern, which would lower transportation costs.

"You can dial 143 or 527-0000 for your donations," he said.

Fighting broke out between government forces and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels after Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against the signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD), which would have led to the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Red Cross evacuating 700 caught in Mindanao crossfire

Gordon appeals for public help

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net

First Posted 16:01:00 08/22/2008
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080822-156248/
Red-Cross-evacuating-700-caught-in-Mindana

Betterer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kItPOx4y_Ok

GMA 7 Video: http://www.gmanews.tv/video/26624/Gordon-visits-MILF-camp

Senator
Richard Gordon told MILF leaders during a meeting at Camp Darapanan in
Shariff Kabunsuan, that it is already too late to postpone the ARMM
elections.

VIDEO: http://www.inquirer.net/vdo/player.php?vid=1301

MANILA,
Philippines — They are both lawyers. They were both mayors who cleaned
up their dirty cities. They both led their constituents during a
disaster. And they both have RG for initials. All this Senator Richard
Gordon pointed out but said that he might be better than former New
York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"All I am saying is, we have
comparative accomplishments. Pero baka naman mas marami tayong krisis
na nilagpasan at pinagtagumpayan…RG siya, Rudy Giuliani, Italyano iyan
eh. Ako Richard Gordon, Amerikano, Gordon. Pero pinili ko maging
Pilipino pero siya pinili niya maging Amerikano [But maybe we survived
and overcame more crises…He's RG, Rudy Giuliani, an Italian. I am
Richard Gordon, American. But I chose to be Filipino, while he chose to
be an American]," he told reporters.

Giuliani spoke before
government and corporate VIPs at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel Tuesday
and called for transparency in government. He said Filipinos should
elect someone they could trust.

But Gordon said paying a hefty price to hear Giuliani speak did not make sense because the Philippines has a lot of heroes.

"Bakit
tayo magbabayad ng $22,000 per seat? Marami tayong bayani dito, mga
lider na subok sa crisis [Why pay $22,000 per seat? We have a lot of
heroes here, leaders who are tested by crises]," he said.

Gordon
said that while he admired Giuliani for his composure and leadership
during the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, the senator pointed out
that he handled more disasters — the Pinatubo eruption, the departure
of the Americans from the former Subic Naval Base, and even the Ormoc,
Leyte flashfloods.

"Bilib ako kay Giuliani at that particular
moment in time nuong nagging mayor siya at nuong tinamaan ng 9/11 ang
New York. Magaling talaga siya [I admired Giuliani at the particular
moment when he was mayor and New York was hit by 9/11. He's really
good]…I can understand where he’s coming from," he said.

But
Gordon reiterated that he has accomplished more, enumerating them thus:
"Lahat ng disaster napuntahan ko. Napaganda natin iyong base, tinanggal
naman tayo. Nagbakasyon tayo, nagturismo tayo, umangat ang turismo. WOW
Philippines, Intramuros, lahat sumikat. Naging presidente tayo ng
international organization ng tourism, PATA. Umalis ako sa turismo,
nilagay ako sa Senado at Red Cross [I have gone to all disasters. We
were able to improve the base, although we were removed there. We went
on vacation, we went into tourism and tourism improved. WOW Philippines
and Intramuros, all became popular. We became president of the Pacific
Asia Travel Association. After tourism, I joined the Senate and the Red
Cross]."

Boasting of his achievements, the president of the
Philippine National ed Cross said the PNRC now has a fire brigade with
10 fire trucks and would soon have ambulances and rescue trucks.

Gordon says he’s better than Giuliani
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:30:00 07/31/2008